“Little whiskey on the rocks / Brooks & Dunn on the box / Marlboro haze in the air.”
Exactly one year ago today, the California Cowboy, Jon Pardi, released his fourth studio album, “Mr. Saturday Night.“
Produced by Pardi, as well as Bart Butler and Ryan Gore (Heartache Medication), the album’s lead single “Last Night Lonely,” written by Dylan Marlowe, Jimi Bell and Joe Fox, was the #1 song at Country radio the week of the album’s release in September.
Jon Pardi co-wrote five out of the fourteen tracks, telling Taste Of Country that his decision for that was due to his belief that the “best song wins.” Pardi also went on to note:
“I could have wrote the whole record. Would it have been as good? No.”
The album’s third single, “Your Heart or Mine,” went on to become Pardi’s sixth No. 1 and is strangely both up-beat and laid back at the same time. Like the album in its entirety, the song embodies that typical Jon Pardi feel, a mix of traditional and mainstream, yet with a fresh new sound and even more Country-er.
There’s a ton of substance, great song-writing, witty word-play and humor (“Reverse Cowgirl”), and a ton of fiddle and steel. Unlike so many others in the genre, Pardi is having great success with it too.
Overall, I’d give this record a solid 7.9 out of 10. Check out some of the tracks, including the badass collaboration with Midland, below.